High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

The long sword rose again.

Without Feng Chuan's command and Zhao Gu's restraint, Duan Yue still did not flinch. He poured all his spiritual power into the blade, and the six-hundred-foot-tall spiritual form gripped the hilt with both hands. A dazzling cold light condensed on the blade as he slashed down at the black and white spiritual forms.

Xu Mingjing raised his sword.

As the swords clashed, the black and white spirit's arms sank simultaneously, and the Bagua diagram beneath his feet cracked open in several places. The sword energy from the wounds continued to seep into his body; his face was pale, but he let out a low growl.

The Yin-Yang Fan detached from Ling Xiang's palm, hovering at the point where the swords clashed, and then suddenly unfolded.

Duan Yue suddenly realized that the power he had suppressed was missing its target.

The longsword continued forward, but the blade slowly slid along its sides. Black and white energies flowed along the blade, drawing the unleashed power of the sword towards the closing Xuan Shu cage above.

Zhiyin's expression changed drastically, and he immediately removed the pages from the book in front of him.

But it's too late.

The longsword sliced ​​through the air, tearing three pages of the book apart simultaneously, creating a gaping hole in the cage. Duan Yue forcibly withdrew his sword, but Ling Xiang's chest and abdomen were completely exposed in the process.

The swords in Xu Mingjing's hands crossed in mid-air.

The black and white sword lights merged into a single line, slashing horizontally across Duan Yue's waist.

Duan Yue Ling Xiang suddenly froze.

He looked down and saw a thin line rapidly expanding along his torso. The spiritual energy that had not yet been fully withdrawn gushed out from the broken end, scattering nearby rocks into the air.

Xu Mingjing didn't give him a chance to reassemble his spiritual form. The sword blade pierced through the crack again, pinning his physical body to the collapsing spiritual form. Yin and Yang energies poured in, and Duan Yue's newly ignited divine soul fire was extinguished before it could break free.

The long sword fell and embedded itself in the mountain ridge below, with only the hilt still vibrating.

He took the seal, turned around, and left.

He dared not attempt to save him; the remaining pages of the book rolled back in front of him, carrying his body away into the distance. Even with four people working together, they could still subdue Xu Mingjing; now, with three already lost, staying here would only lead to the same fate.

But then the sound of a Bagua diagram spinning came from behind.

He turned around abruptly, holding the seal.

Xu Mingjing was already standing in front of him, his robes stained with blood, and the wound on his shoulder so deep that the bone was almost visible. The thousand-foot-tall spiritual figure was also severely damaged, with knife marks on its chest and back, but it still held its sword steadily.

He held the seal and pushed the mysterious book forward.

The pages flipped rapidly in mid-air, overlapping characters that enveloped him completely. Xu Mingjing swung his sword down; the first strike was blocked, but by the time the second strike landed, the characters had already begun to shatter.

Blood trickled from his mouth as he held the seal, but his hands remained firmly pressed against the spine of the book.

"You may kill us, but others will come from the capital!"

Xu Mingjing looked at him, her face expressionless.

"Then let them come."

The Yin-Yang Fan landed above the Xuan Shu, its surface slowly rotating, drawing the outward-spreading characters to both sides.

The third sword pierced through the light barrier.

Zhiyin's chest trembled as he looked down at the sword blade that had pierced through his body. The Xuan Shu slipped from his palm, and the shadow of the last page had just risen when it, along with his dissipating soul, was swallowed by the black and white light.

The mountains finally quieted down.

Xu Mingjing stood in mid-air until he was sure there were no more residual souls around him before slowly sheathing his twin swords. The thousand-foot-tall spiritual image behind him dissipated, and he swayed slightly before landing on a mountaintop that had not yet completely collapsed.

This battle was far from easy.

The injuries to his ribs, shoulders, back, and soul flared up simultaneously, and the sword energy he had been forcibly suppressing surged again, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood. If it weren't for the changes he had gleaned from the carvings in the cave, he would likely have paid an even greater price to escape today.

He immediately raised his hand and unfolded the Yin-Yang Fan.

The lingering spiritual energy from the surrounding area began to converge here, and the remaining life force from the corpses was slowly extracted, condensing into tiny streams of light that fell into the Bagua diagram in front of him.

The black and white energies rotated alternately, and the mixed foreign spiritual forces were stripped away one by one, leaving behind life force that continuously flowed into his body.

The residual sword energy was gradually forced out of the wounds on his shoulder and back. Flesh and blood regenerated, severed meridians slowly repaired themselves, and his originally pale face gradually regained some color.

Xu Mingjing closed his eyes and regulated his breathing for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, his breathing had become steady.

His injuries had mostly healed, and his condition had returned to about 80%. However, the area where his soul had been burned by the lamplight still ached faintly, and it couldn't be healed immediately by absorbing some life force.

He didn't delay any longer.

He captured the four innate spiritual treasures one by one, sealed their auras, and temporarily put them into his possession. Afterwards, Xu Mingjing looked up at the Northern Darkness.

In the distance, on the horizon, black and gold flames ignited once more.

An octagonal diagram appeared beneath his feet, and his figure vanished from the mountaintop, leaving behind only the devastated mountains and several lingering turbulent currents of spiritual energy.

......

Before the turbulent flow of spiritual energy in the mountains had dissipated, four figures swept in from the south and stopped on the broken mountain ridge.

Pei Zhao walked at the front, wearing a dark long robe with the collar neatly buttoned. Unlike his respectful demeanor in front of Xu Xiuqi, he was very calm at this moment. His gaze swept over the sheared mountain peak in front of him, but he did not immediately head down.

The other three followed behind him.

Herbert Grant was tall and thin, with gray-brown hair combed back and some graying at his temples.

His deep-set eyes and high nose bridge gave his face an exceptionally cold and hard appearance. He wore a dark long coat and a black glove on his right hand. After stopping, he first glanced at the still churning spiritual energy in the distance before looking down to examine the cracks under his feet.

Via Seller is a woman who looks to be around thirty years old, with long dark red hair tied back, slightly upturned eyes, and very light-colored lips.

She was dressed in black clothes that allowed for easy movement, with a thin belt around her waist, making almost no sound as she walked. Reaching the edge of the ridge, she leaned down and looked down, her gaze quickly settling on a wisp of black and white air that had not yet dissipated.

The last to land was Adrian Vaughn, a broad-shouldered man with short, light blond hair clinging to his scalp, and several healed old wounds on his bare forearms. Unlike the other two, he wasn't as cautious; he kicked aside a piece of rubble and frowned as he gazed at the cleaved mountainside ahead.

The original terrain is no longer visible here.

Several mountain peaks were abruptly cut off at different points, leaving deep ravines in the valley. Further away, a large hillside looked as if it had been repeatedly crushed by something heavy, with layers of rubble piled up, and not a single tree in any decent condition could be found.

Clearly, a fierce battle between top-tier cultivators had taken place here not long ago.

Via reached out, her fingertips drawing upon a wisp of residual spiritual energy. The black and white energy swirled in front of her palm, causing the scattered, exotic spiritual energy nearby to shift, some being pushed away and others being drawn in.

Her eyes flickered slightly as she turned to look at Pei Zhao.

"These are... marks from an adult?"

Upon hearing this, Herbert and Adrian both looked over.

They were familiar with that kind of manipulation and differentiation of spiritual energy. Although the remaining power was very weak, some of its operating methods were indeed similar to those they had seen before.

Pei Zhao shook his head.

"It wasn't done by an adult."

He took a few steps forward and stopped in front of a section of rock that had been cleaved by the sword light. The surface of the rock appeared smooth, but two opposing forces remained inside, still slowly grinding down the rock layers at their point of contact.

Pei Zhao observed for a moment before continuing, "It's Xu Mingjing."